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not appear what preferments- they held * , < oir e ^ eia where they resid ' ed , nor do I exactly see what is designated by the J . C a-ttaehed to some of them ; tout this and any further information
relative to the character ., writings or history of the whole of this noble phalanx , of worthies , would , doubtless form an acceptable communication to- the readers of the Monthly Reposi tor y . ' V . M . H *
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supposed moral sense , that && the advocates for a moral sense never could intend to use tlie word ins . precisely the same meanings , as when it is applied to the faculty < o > f perceiving external
objects through the corporeal organs * They applied it analogically to the mental power of distinguishing between moral good and evil , afld analogies do not require that the cases be perfectly parallel . "
To this I answer , many supporters of that doctrine have gone much further ; they have spoken of a- ' sixtk sense * , which they deemed equally instantaneous , and equally infallible in its perceptions with either of the five * But supposing this were not tfie case ^
I maintain that in every wguifWent from analogy , the analogy must be perfect s ° * the argument is incottclti * sive . Analogy may serve as a kind of conjectural solution of a difficulty or as an illustration , a metaphorical illustration , of a subject ^ where there
are but few points of resemblance ; but it cannot be the basis of a- theory ., unless there be a concordance in every pointy for the point of discrepancy may enfeeble or destroy the whole hypothesise The minutest de
viation from the right point of the compass , at first'setting out ^ and persevered in during the whole of a voyage , will never conduct the mariner to the destined port , nor will th& mathe * matician be able to solve his problem undev the influence of the smallest
error- Whoever * maintains that thfc endowment of a moral sense is a gtiidfe to- decision in moral senftiiti&ftt' aiit ) moral conduct , must believe that the faculty is equally accurate in ite reports as the other senses , whether he retain the term of a sixth sense or not *
He must suppose , that in its effects the analogy is perfect , though not itf Its physical construction , olrth&t thcfrfe is a peculiar organization irt the hmht destined to the purpose : and my object is- to prove that Hie analogy is s ^
defectivej that all reasonings from it are inconclusive ; atfd that Weafrfc not under the necessity of having' recourse to no unsatisfactory a mode of solution * when it is not difficult to explain-all the phenomena * upon- which ttfey found an hypothesis * by the comfla < m laws of human nature which-are in
daily ^ operation * , On the Doctrine of Neceinrity » mf
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W Br . ( uogmw am ki& Sffal € t ^ € Stians
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&p . &ogan- on his Ethical Q ; ue $ tion $ * Sir , Bee . IS , 181 7 * 1 TTPON looking into the Montlily \ J' Repository for April , [ XII . £ 26 ¦—2363 ] I perceive that there is an ample and candid review of my
Ethical Questions ; with which the self-love of an author is sufficiently gratified . But as I think that the writer ' s objections to some of my positions * may have a tendency to invalidate my argumesits * in the opinion of many of your readers , upon subjects which I
deem of the first importance ? without confuting them in realityj , 1 beg leave to reply to his comments upon thenn 9 by the same channel through which they were communicated to the public . If , Sir ^ I know myself , my prime object is the discovery of truth . Truth * sacred truth * is of such infinite
importance , that 1 am induced to respect a man who advances an ingenious error , the confutation of which introduces a just principle , or establishes it upon a more solid basis ; and if my writings shall advance knowledge by the detection of my errors , I shall not have
written in vain . I hope , therefore ,, to receive correction with the docility of a pupil who has mistaken his gram * mar-rules , or has misconstrued a passage ., without being impertinently positive that he is always in the right .
In the following strictures my sole object is to rectify what appeal * to me misapprehensions , and to prove that the positions upon which the writer has animadverted , perfectly correspond with the tenor of the principles-I wish to establish , and to wlaich he
does not object . In-his- review of the third Speculation , on the Existence of a Moral Sense , though he agrees with me upon the .. whole ,. he observes * in answer to my argument against its existence ^ flroimttie ~ imperfectiofrsof > . tbfc analogy between the pfy / siml senseft and this
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1818, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2472/page/18/
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